The report expected in November
The Special Commission on the Evolution of the Law on End-of-Life Care, whose consultation ended this week, is due to release its eagerly awaited report in mid-November.
(Quebec) We should know in November whether Quebec is on the way to extending medical assistance in dying to people who are incapacitated or suffering from a mental disorder.
(Quebec) We should know in November whether Quebec is on the way to extending medical assistance in dying to people who are incapacitated or suffering from a mental disorder.
The Special Commission on the Evolution of the Law on End-of-Life Care, whose consultation ended this week, is due to release its eagerly awaited report in mid-November.
The members of the commission have reached the crucial stage of assimilating all the opinions received over the past few months and of finding the consensus leading to the recommendations to be formulated to the government in order to draft their report.
If the committee approves the idea of expanding assisted dying, the government should normally follow through with a bill that could, for example, allow advance consent to people with cognitive losses, such as dying disease. 'Alzheimer's,
or opening the door to patients with mental illnesses.
The work of the commission aroused real interest, both from the general population and from experts,
who are confronted daily with these delicate questions.
After 14 days of hearings and a hundred speakers and experts heard, not to mention the 80 or so briefs received and the 3,000 people from the public who participated in the online consultation, we can say that the issue does not leave indifferent people.
The president of the commission, the CAQ member Nancy Guillemette, said it was still too early to say that some consensus emerged from all this mass of information and opinions.
She herself asserts that after all these testimonies, her idea is not yet clear as to the position the committee should take in its report. "My opinion is not really forged," commented Ms. Guillemette on Tuesday in a telephone interview, showing anxious to first take stock with her 10 fellow Members of the working group.
She says she wonders whether the population is ready to go so far as to legalize access to medical assistance in dying for certain categories of people who are not currently entitled to it.
One thing is certain, the idea of expanding and facilitating medical assistance in dying has found its way into the medical world. The two major organizations of physicians (the Federation of General Practitioners and the Federation of Specialist Physicians), as well as the College of Physicians, have come out clearly in favor of the idea of respecting the wishes of people with cognitive disorders and having expressed in the past their wish to receive this type of lethal treatment.
M me Guillemette however noted here that some doctors have testified to express their discomfort with the idea of having to accelerate the death of someone incapable of giving consent.
The members of the commission have reached the crucial stage of assimilating all the opinions received over the past few months and of finding the consensus leading to the recommendations to be formulated to the government in order to draft their report.
If the committee approves the idea of expanding assisted dying, the government should normally follow through with a bill that could, for example, allow advance consent to people with cognitive losses, such as dying disease. 'Alzheimer's,
or opening the door to patients with mental illnesses.
The work of the commission aroused real interest, both from the general population and from experts,
who are confronted daily with these delicate questions.
After 14 days of hearings and a hundred speakers and experts heard, not to mention the 80 or so briefs received and the 3,000 people from the public who participated in the online consultation, we can say that the issue does not leave indifferent people.
The president of the commission, the CAQ member Nancy Guillemette, said it was still too early to say that some consensus emerged from all this mass of information and opinions.
She herself asserts that after all these testimonies, her idea is not yet clear as to the position the committee should take in its report. "My opinion is not really forged," commented Ms. Guillemette on Tuesday in a telephone interview, showing anxious to first take stock with her 10 fellow Members of the working group.
She says she wonders whether the population is ready to go so far as to legalize access to medical assistance in dying for certain categories of people who are not currently entitled to it.
One thing is certain, the idea of expanding and facilitating medical assistance in dying has found its way into the medical world. The two major organizations of physicians (the Federation of General Practitioners and the Federation of Specialist Physicians), as well as the College of Physicians, have come out clearly in favor of the idea of respecting the wishes of people with cognitive disorders and having expressed in the past their wish to receive this type of lethal treatment.
M me Guillemette however noted here that some doctors have testified to express their discomfort with the idea of having to accelerate the death of someone incapable of giving consent.
JOCELYNE RICHER
THE CANADIAN PRESS
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2021-08-24/elargissement-de-l-aide-medicale-a-mourir/le-rapport-attendu-en-novembre.php
THE CANADIAN PRESS
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2021-08-24/elargissement-de-l-aide-medicale-a-mourir/le-rapport-attendu-en-novembre.php
